Mindviewers Stories

I was halfway into my meal when the three Okada riders met me inside the Buka. The zinc built roadside restaurant was stuffy that afternoon as the three commercial motorcycle riders stepped into the rowdy joint. They picked a table next to me and then made their orders. I was enjoying my rice and beans with fried meat. This was the popular menu of the eating place. So I was not surprised when the three men also requested rice and beans with meat. But I was surprised when one of them asked the waitress not to put meat on his.
‘ I don’t want meat on my own. ‘He told them loudly.
‘Don’t be stingy. Enjoy yourself while alive.’ I heard one of his companions say.
‘ Yes, spend money on yourself and enjoy your life.’ The third man supported.
But he smiled broadly at his companion and shook his head as if what they were suggesting was ridiculous.
‘You guys can go ahead and enjoy your life with all your money I don’t care. But as for me, I am not spending a dime to buy meat. I hope to do that once I get back to the village. I didn’t come all the way to the city to eat meat.’ He told them seriously.
The waitress brought them their order a few minutes later and I noticed that one of the plates had no meat. I saw the two of them pick out the two plates with meat and left the meatless plate for the third man. He picked up his plate with relish and they all ate silently.
‘But you should be ashamed of your squirrel life. The meat in your meal won’t pinch much from your money. Enjoy today, tomorrow is still far. ’ The first man said as they ate.
‘There is nothing like being a miser here. Look, I have all the money to buy a full ram or goat if I want to. But I have promised myself not to spend extravagantly. I am saving all this money to enjoy myself when I get back to the village.’ The guy responded and then to my surprise brought out a large sum of money from his pocket. ‘You can see I have almost one hundred thousand naira here. But I am not spending a dime on meat. You guys should go ahead and spend yours.’ He said mockingly, protectively returned the money into his pocket and then back to his food.
They finished eating a few minutes later, paid and left me still seated on my seat. I saw them climb their bikes and drive off. I left the buka few minutes later to see a sudden accident ahead of me. Getting to the spot, I saw the mingled body of a man and his bike under a trailer. A proper view confirmed that it was the corpse of the bike rider who had refused to include meat in his meal.

About 4 days ago, my friend Enable visited me. It was a much-needed catch-up session, and we spent the evening discussing everything under the sun while laughing and reminiscing about the year that had just passed.

As we chatted, Enable mentioned something that caught me off guard. She started telling me about the bed bug infestation in her apartment and how there were reports of bed bugs just a few blocks away from her residence.

I was genuinely taken aback by this news. I couldn't recall ever hearing about bed bugs being a problem in our area. I asked her if she had noticed any signs of bed bug attacks in her own room, to which she nodded and detailed the distressing experience.

Her words made me briefly worried, but I quickly reassured myself. I hadn't observed a single trace of bed bugs in my room, and I was confident that I wouldn't be suffering from any bed bug infestations anytime soon.
I reminded myself that our lodge had never had any reports of bed bug infestations, yet Enable's explanation about how terrifying they can be at night lingered in my mind.

I've been avoiding my WhatsApp status updates for a while now. The constant stream of videos, pictures, and captions from my friends had become a source of anxiety for me. It seemed like most of them were posting things that I found uninteresting or even emotionally triggering for no good reason. It just didn't feel like a healthy use of my time to engage with their content.

Tonight, however, I made the decision to confront my fear and take a look at their statuses. It was a daunting prospect, to say the least. I had been so focused on my own principles about what I wanted to share that I hadn't given much thought to the kinds of content my friends were sharing. But I felt that if they were viewing my statuses, I could at least reciprocate the gesture.

As I scrolled through their updates, I was confronted with a mix of contrasting things. Some were impactful and meaningful, reflecting values and insights that I could appreciate. Others, however, seemed to be posting just for the sake of posting, without adding any real value to the conversation.

It was a moment of realization for me. I realized that while I had been hesitant to engage with their content, I could also use this opportunity to be a force for positive change. I could set an example by posting content that was aligned with my values and principles, rather than simply following the crowd.

Oya make una take note, stop posting uninteresting things on your status make I no go carry you lock for kirikiri.

When I was in high school, I had a rather unique morning routine. Early in the morning, just as the world was waking up, I would venture out to hunt for snails. It seemed that in the early hours when the air was still cool, these little creatures would come out of hiding, perhaps migrating or seeking moisture, but whatever the reason, it made them easy to find.

I would spend my mornings scouring for snails, and within a week, I had amassed quite a collection. Meanwhile, my sisters and siblings would sleep peacefully, unaware of my early morning adventures. When they did wake up and find me engaged in my snail hunting, they thought I was wasting my time on something frivolous and fleeting.

It was a few days later when a neighbor paid us a visit and stumbled upon my snail "farm" – a small enclosure I had set up in a pent-up bucket. As he peered inside and saw the quantity of snails I had collected, he was impressed. To my delight, as a small child, he slipped me a 500 Naira note, which to me felt like winning a million dollars. My sisters were astonished by this unexpected validation, and they didn't hesitate to join me in my snail hunting efforts in the days that followed.

They were even more determined than me. Turning every stones and uncovering all uncovered.